Sean Hannity is fighting for his survival

On Friday, Sean Hannity reignited efforts by enemies of his on the left to take him off the air via putting pressure on his advertisers to dump his show. His telephone interview with Senate nominee Roy Moore, broadcast live on his radio show and replayed later on his nightly Fox News Channel program, actually won more praise than might have been expected from a variety of analysts.

Hannity asked Moore tough questions and got the former judge to go on the record. The interview represented Moore's first spoken comments on the controversy since the story was initially reported on Thursday in the Washington Post.

Almost immediately, his enemies, in particular Media Matters for America, struck. Earlier attempts of this kind, including last May after Hannity reported on the unsolved murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich, did not succeed.

But now, over the past weekend, according to Forbes, Deadline Hollywood, the Daily Caller, and hundreds if not thousands of other media outlets, this latest "kill shot" (as Hannity termed such efforts last May) aimed at the country's #1 cable news host may be gaining traction.

At least five companies said over the weekend that they will no longer advertise their products during Fox News' "Hannity" television show. . . Keurig, Realtor.com, 23 and Me, Eloquii and Nature's Bounty all pulled their ads from the television show, in response to Fox host Sean Hannity's coverage of the sexual misconduct allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.

Hannity, never one to support boycotts, has not specifically called for a boycott of the advertisers who are deserting him. Instead, he has posted tweets on his Twitter feed about his interest in what his fans and critics of the advertisers are doing.

Deplorable friends, I am buying 500 coffee makers tomorrow to give away!! Details on radio and TV. Hint; best videos!!

Chances are these will not be Keurig coffee makers.

Media Matters for America (MMFA), the far-left group founded by David Brock to attack conservative media, is behind the boycott Hannity campaign. In fact, Keurig tweeted a thank-you to MMFA's president, Angelo Carusone, for calling Hannity's coverage of the Moore case to the company's attention:

Angelo, thank you for your concern and for bringing this to our attention. We worked with our media partner and FOX news to stop our ad from airing during the Sean Hannity Show.

On Sunday, a counter-campaign among Hannity's supporters to boycott the boycotting advertisers – Keurig in particular – quickly took off on social media. As the work week starts today, the second large viral wave of coverage of this issue is mostly about the spread instigated by Hannity's fans of boycotts of the advertisers who have ended sponsorship of his program.

The stakes in this emerging fight couldn't be higher. Sean Hannity, and a handful of other high-profile conservative hosts on Fox News, represent the last thin line in the mainstream media left standing against the almost universal fake news onslaught by the MSM aimed at taking down President Donald Trump. Last April, advertisers who deserted Fox News's #1 program at the time, The O'Reilly Factor, after allegations of sexual harassment by host Bill O'Reilly resurfaced in the media, got the host of that program summarily fired in less than three weeks.

Peter Barry Chowka is a veteran reporter and analyst of news on national politics, media, and popular culture. Follow Peter on Twitter @pchowka.

On Friday, Sean Hannity reignited efforts by enemies of his on the left to take him off the air via putting pressure on his advertisers to dump his show. His telephone interview with Senate nominee Roy Moore, broadcast live on his radio show and replayed later on his nightly Fox News Channel program, actually won more praise than might have been expected from a variety of analysts.

Hannity asked Moore tough questions and got the former judge to go on the record. The interview represented Moore's first spoken comments on the controversy since the story was initially reported on Thursday in the Washington Post.

Almost immediately, his enemies, in particular Media Matters for America, struck. Earlier attempts of this kind, including last May after Hannity reported on the unsolved murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich, did not succeed.

But now, over the past weekend, according to Forbes, Deadline Hollywood, the Daily Caller, and hundreds if not thousands of other media outlets, this latest "kill shot" (as Hannity termed such efforts last May) aimed at the country's #1 cable news host may be gaining traction.

At least five companies said over the weekend that they will no longer advertise their products during Fox News' "Hannity" television show. . . Keurig, Realtor.com, 23 and Me, Eloquii and Nature's Bounty all pulled their ads from the television show, in response to Fox host Sean Hannity's coverage of the sexual misconduct allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.

Hannity, never one to support boycotts, has not specifically called for a boycott of the advertisers who are deserting him. Instead, he has posted tweets on his Twitter feed about his interest in what his fans and critics of the advertisers are doing.

Deplorable friends, I am buying 500 coffee makers tomorrow to give away!! Details on radio and TV. Hint; best videos!!

Chances are these will not be Keurig coffee makers.

Media Matters for America (MMFA), the far-left group founded by David Brock to attack conservative media, is behind the boycott Hannity campaign. In fact, Keurig tweeted a thank-you to MMFA's president, Angelo Carusone, for calling Hannity's coverage of the Moore case to the company's attention:

Angelo, thank you for your concern and for bringing this to our attention. We worked with our media partner and FOX news to stop our ad from airing during the Sean Hannity Show.

On Sunday, a counter-campaign among Hannity's supporters to boycott the boycotting advertisers – Keurig in particular – quickly took off on social media. As the work week starts today, the second large viral wave of coverage of this issue is mostly about the spread instigated by Hannity's fans of boycotts of the advertisers who have ended sponsorship of his program.

The stakes in this emerging fight couldn't be higher. Sean Hannity, and a handful of other high-profile conservative hosts on Fox News, represent the last thin line in the mainstream media left standing against the almost universal fake news onslaught by the MSM aimed at taking down President Donald Trump. Last April, advertisers who deserted Fox News's #1 program at the time, The O'Reilly Factor, after allegations of sexual harassment by host Bill O'Reilly resurfaced in the media, got the host of that program summarily fired in less than three weeks.

Peter Barry Chowka is a veteran reporter and analyst of news on national politics, media, and popular culture. Follow Peter on Twitter @pchowka.